


For Children are not only Illogical but Cruel

by DeathByStorm



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Bullying, Gen, Pre-Slash, Stonn is a dick, kink meme prompt, logic smackdown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-16
Updated: 2013-07-16
Packaged: 2017-12-20 08:44:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/885284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeathByStorm/pseuds/DeathByStorm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on this prompt: I'd love to see Spock encountering some of his childhood bullies... Basically, I want Kirk to give the vulcans a vulcan-version of a smackdown (outlogic-ed, bitches!) rather than the typical human-version of a smackdown his instinct initially urges him toward.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For Children are not only Illogical but Cruel

**Author's Note:**

> First fic in two years and first fic in this fandom. So be gentle.  
> And a thank you to Eilera for lending me her beta services for this fic.

“C'mon Spock, it'll be fun,” Jim said. “You'll get to beam down off this ship and terrify the Ensigns into doing your bidding.”

“I do not deliberately do so. Since contrary to your claims there is no transporter malfunction, I should return to my post.”

Jim let out a huff and rolled his eyes. “It was a joke, Spock. But seriously, we've been in the black for the past four months. All non-essential crew are on immediate shore leave. I know that you need a rest. You'll get to visit your father.”

“Vulcans do not need rest as humans do, Captain,” Spock said for what had to be the hundredth time – not that Jim was going to give up without a fight. “While I have no objection to visiting my father, I do know that I am not essential for overseeing the offloading of supplies. It would be just as prudent for you to do it yourself or, if you so desire, you can take another individual with you. Doctor McCoy would be efficient as you can receive your booster shots simultaneously.”

“Don't bring Bones into this,” Jim started.

“He has also brought it to my attention that you are overdue for a physical.”

“Spock.”

Spock just regarded him silently, waiting for him to continue.

“C'mon Spock, don't make me make it an order,” Jim said.

Spock seemed to sigh even though to an outside observer he remained perfectly expressionless. But to someone like Jim, who was rapidly becoming versed in Spockese, it was clearly an act of both exasperation and resignation.

“Very well, Captain.”

Jim grinned triumphantly. He had been trying to get Spock's agreement all morning (refusal, of course, never being an actual option). Spock had claimed that he was behind on paperwork of all things. Which, Jim knew to be one of the worst lies in the history of lies. Spock was always miles ahead in his paperwork, often to the point where he would help Jim with his.

Jim knew something was up, and he was nosy enough to want to know what it was. Spock was generally very good at simply stating when Jim crossed a line. Which, Jim guessed, was a fundamental part of their friendship since he was pretty terrible with boundaries. It was the reason why Bones was his other best friend as well. The doctor never hesitated to call Jim on his bullshit. He had been waiting to get Spock into his clutches to see what was bothering his friend.

They stepped up to the transporter pad.

“Energize, Mr. Scott.”

“Energizing, Captain.”

Jim felt the familiar tingle of his atoms breaking apart take over. They materialized close to where his crew and some Vulcans were working together to categorize the artefacts and prepare them for shipping to other parts of the planet. They'd had to bring them down by shuttle because there were some artefacts that were considered too fragile for the disintegration and reintegration process of the transporter.

Spock looked at him out of the corner of his eye and raised an eyebrow as if to say 'see, I told you this was an illogical waste of time, Jim.' Thankfully it wasn't up to Spock and it was because they would be needed in the most minimal capacity that Jim had wanted Spock to come with him.

“You have been avoiding me, Spock,” Jim said suddenly.

“I am not aware of any examples of me doing so. Would you care to specify?”

“Seriously, needing to do paperwork? You are a terrible liar, Mr. Spock.”

Spock seemed to stand even more at attention than usual.

“Vulcans do not lie. Though you find paperwork to be most distasteful Captain, it is a necessity in order to keep Starfleet informed of our activities and to keep the ship running at peak efficiency.”

Jim ran his hand through hair which was quickly becoming drenched with sweat. Why did the planet that Ambassador Spock had picked have to be so hot? Of course, Spock was naturally adapted to this type of environment and looked as put together as ever with his neat hair and unwrinkled uniform

“And you and I both know that you are consistently miles ahead of me when it comes to paperwork. Hell, I know that you are still doing at least some of my paperwork as well. Just this morning there were the shore leave rosters which didn't make an appearance on my desk. The only other person who could have signed off on it was you.”

The Vulcan was able to express his discomfort without moving so much as a muscle. One day, Jim planned to find out how he did that. As well as why so many people were unable to see how expressive his First Officer was. Well okay, maybe he did know that it was a common prejudice. That and after serving with Spock for over a year, Jim felt he knew his friend well enough to read his not expressions. For now though, he would settle upon convincing the Vulcan that it was logical to accompany him down to the planet.

“Why didn't you want to come down to the planet with me?” Jim tried a more direct route.

“Jim, you know that my childhood was not an easy one,” Spock said. “The leader of the party that is to meet with us and collect the Vulcan artefacts is Stonn, one whom I have had many disagreements with in the past.”

“He's one of the kids who insulted your mother, wasn't he?”

“Affirmative. He is the only one of my former tormentors that survived Nero's wrath.”

“Well, running away hardly seems logical, does it?” Jim said. “Besides, you're a hero to the Vulcan people. Why would he bother to be hostile towards you now?”

“I believe that he will still be so.”

“Sounds like he's more jealous of you than anything.”

“Jim... “

“Seriously though, has this been bothering you the whole time?” Jim bit into a replicated apple and winced at the taste. One of these days, he was going to take the time to fix the ship's replicators so that they would produce apples that didn't taste like sawdust.

“Ow, do you have to do that?” Jim yelped as Bones jabbed a hypospray in his neck without so much as a hello. He gave Spock a betrayed look. “And you couldn't have told me that he was behind me?”

“As First Officer, it is my job to make sure that you stay in the best shape for command. Doctor McCoy's only intention was to improve your health and thus not worth bringing attention to,” Spock replied.

“You didn't show up in Sickbay for your boosters before beaming down here, Jim,” Then, because Bones was sadistic and evil, he stabbed Jim with a second hypospray that he had clearly pulled out of nowhere.

Jim yelped again. “What was that for?”

“A vitamin booster since you decided not only to skip out on your vaccinations, but on lunch as well.”

Jim could see the amusement glinting in his First Officer's eyes. “You think this is funny, don't you, Spock? I can see you smiling.”

“Vulcans do not smile, Jim,” Spock said dryly.

Jim grinned right back at him. “No, that was definitely a smile, Spock.”

“It is to be expected from a half human.”

Jim and Spock both turned and saw one of the Vulcans from earlier who had been monitoring the inspection of the artefacts. In his hand he held a PADD and a stylus, obviously needing a signature of some sort. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Spock stiffen and clench his fingers which were, as always, clasped behind his back. That wasn't a good sign. Spock only did that when he was uncomfortable with the situation at hand.

Spock raised an eyebrow. “Illogical. While I may be half human, I was raised as a Vulcan and the majority of my physiology is that of a Vulcan.”

“However, you are not a full Vulcan. With the threat of inbreeding upon us within just a few generations, introducing more weak blood to the gene pool would be illogical.”

Okay, even Jim knew that that was racism being disguised as logic. Spock's clasped hands were clenched so tightly behind his back that Jim could see the whites of his knuckles. And Jim had to squash the urge to punch the asshole on the nose, starship captain be damned. He knew what it was like to have people think less of you because you didn't measure up to an ideal. Hell, it was one of the things that he and Spock had bonded over in the first few months of their friendship. Jim took a deep breath to calm himself before giving a smile that was more of a grimace. The old Kirk charm was a thin mask stretched across the fury he was suppressing underneath.

“Stonn, wasn't it?” his voice was laced with faux politeness. His facsimile of a smile widened when the Vulcan inclined his head. “You know, I really sympathize with you.”

Jim then got to experience the Vulcan eyebrow raise in stereo. The small corner of his mind that didn't want to absolutely smack some sense into the prejudiced bastard was surprised to see it was not only a Spock thing.

“It is interesting to note that he is also not human enough to pass muster among your people as well,” Stonn said.

Spock flinched almost imperceptibly. Jim took a deep breath and reminded himself that he was Captain, and unclenched his fists. The way that he was about to deal with this would be more effective than punching the smug look off of the face of the Vulcan in front of him.

“It must have been tough you know, seeing the symbol of your failure to control your emotions again.”

“Captain, you should not feel it nece-”

“Quiet Spock, that's an order,” Jim said out of the corner of his mouth. It was a testament to how well Spock had come to know Kirk that he didn't try to prevent him from continuing again.

“I am not sure what a human would know about Vulcan practices, but I can assure you that I was and still am superior in logic and emotional control than him.”

Jim gave him an unimpressed look. “Are you sure about that? Let's examine the facts logically. Despite your claims of superior emotional control, your deliberate attempts at getting Spock to lose his only speaks of your own inability to restrain yourself.”

“And he did lose control proving that he indeed was volatile like a human. Your premise is illogical.”

“Let me finish. What was it about Spock that mattered so much that you were unable to control your urges to be cruel to him? Why did you have the impulse to be cruel at all? There was no logical, emotionless reason for you to torment him. It was jealousy. You were jealous that Spock, despite the fact that he is not a pure blooded Vulcan, was smarter than you. You were angry because he had better emotional control than you. And considering what you have just said, you are still envious of him today.”

“Considering your remarks to the Captain, I think we can add xenophobia to that list as well,” Bones said. He stepped around from behind Spock and up beside Kirk so that they were both in between Spock and Stonn. “Now I am a doctor, not a philosopher, but even I can see that you aren't exactly a representative of the Vulcan ideal yourself. You have demonstrated a lack of logic through your xenophobic tendencies and through your failure to uphold the Vulcan ideal of Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations.”

“It is only right that you humans would find him an acceptable Vulcan as he is so similar to you,” Stonn said.

“It is not a matter so much of us finding him acceptable. I have found many other 'pure blooded' Vulcans acceptable as well. It is you, who would insult my friend without any provocation that I find unacceptable,” Kirk said. “Now I believe that you need me to sign off on something?”

Stonn's face gave a twitch that closely resembled outrage. “Of course, Captain Kirk.”

Stonn passed him the PADD and Jim quickly scribbled his name along the bottom before passing it back. Without another word Stonn turned and beat a hasty retreat.

“Serves him right,” Jim muttered. “What an asshole.”

“Captain, it was unnecessary for you to intervene. The situation was under control.”

“Like hell it was, Spock,” Jim said. “When it comes to defending your family and defending your friends, you are far less than emotionally stable. You get... enraged to put it best. Why is it that you won't stand up for yourself? You don't deserve to be treated that way by anyone.”

“Possibly for the same reason that you seem to place so little value in your life, Captain,” Spock replied. “While you place an inordinately high value on the lives of others.”

“Now that's hardly fair, Spock,” Bones began but was cut off by Jim.

“Don't try to distract me, Spock.”

“I have told you more than once that I find those outbursts shameful,” Spock said.

“You really shouldn't find them so. It's okay to feel angry when someone is saying cruel things about loved ones. Also the Vulcans I have met do feel, they just have enough control not to show it if they don't want to. That includes you.”

“Then I must ask you Captain, how precisely are you able to understand my emotional state?”

Jim turned to Spock and gave him a wide grin. “Now, that would be telling. Chess tonight at 1900 ship's time, Mr. Spock?”

“That would be most welcome, Jim,” Spock said. “However-”

“For God's sake, you green-eared hobgoblin, it isn't what you say that allows Jim to understand you, but what you don't say.” Bones was scarily perceptive as always.

Huh. Jim had completely forgotten that Bones was even there for a minute. Perhaps it was because Bones lost his ability to be terrifying when he was out of hyposprays. He glanced up at his friend and after one look at the doctor's grumpy expression, he decided that Bones was still terrifying. He glanced back at Spock just in time to have the Vulcan meet his eyes and raise an eyebrow.

“Bones! I knew you liked him,” Jim said.

“I don't,” Bones growled.

“Too late! Your secret's already out.”

“Aren't you about due for a medical check-up, Jim?” Bones said.

“No, I was only due for my boosters,” Jim said.

“The Captain is overdue for his physical by approximately 1.235 days,” Spock cut in.

Jim sent him a wounded look. “Mr. Spock, you're fired.”

And it seemed to Jim that the corners of the Vulcan's eyes softened just a little, indicating a bit of a smile.

“That power is happily out of your hands, Captain.”

The End


End file.
